Joy to the World
by coffeevixen84
Summary: A JH Christmasy fic. My first attempt, so please read and let me konw what you think.


It was Christmas Eve. Night was falling. Mrs. Forman had Holiday records playing upstairs and the whole house carried the scent of her 3 freshly baked apple pies. A beautiful blanket of fresh white snow had wrapped Point Place festively the night before, and Steven Hyde wanted nothing more than to fast forward a few days and get really, really stoned. It wasn't that he was a Scrooge or anything. He didn't hate Christmas, per se. But it was a family holiday, all about giving and tradition, and it wasn't like Hyde's history lent itself to warm fuzzies on those topics. The last few years hadn't been bad. The Formans were great, beyond generous really. And well, to be honest, Jackie had brightened his holidays as well. But now that they were over, and Eric and Kelso were gone, well he had no idea what to expect. So like with most things, he tried not to care, and prayed to a God he wasn't sure he believed in that the drama would keep to a minimum.

Samantha had called a few days prior. She wasn't sure she'd be back in town for Christmas. A group of car part manufacturers from Detroit's flight out of Vegas had been canceled due to weather, so they had rented the club to make their extended stay a bit more pleasurable. Hyde hated to admit it, but he was kind of relieved. He wasn't in the mood to be starting any traditions with his new wife, so when she had alluded to a special holiday celebration when she got back, he wasn't lying when he told her that sounded just fine to him. He looked at the clock. It was almost 7. Fez and Jackie and the Pinciotti's would be there soon. Leo was supposed to be coming too, if he remembered. It wasn't a typical American family by any means, but Hyde figured they beat nothing at all. He picked up the stack of presents, hastily wrapped in brown paper, and headed to the living room.

Dinner had tasted fantastic. Kitty had truly outdone herself, and everyone suspected it had something to do with neither of her biological children making it home for the Holidays. Red had kept his grumbling to a minimum, making no foreign kid or hippie comments at Fez and Leo, and no slams on Bob either. Donna looked happier than he'd seen her in a while and Fez seemed just as happy as he could be at the sight of the five different kinds of desserts Kitty had prepared. Hyde, feeling braver with each sip he had of Mrs. Forman's special holiday punch, braved a glance down the table at Jackie. He hated to admit it, but she looked fantastic. Her red sweater warmed her complexion beautifully, her full lips adorned with a matching shade of gloss. When she'd walked by him earlier, he could smell its strawberry flavor. He had always loved that gloss. Her wide eyes were framed by her long and delicate lashes. She looked as gorgeous as he'd ever seen her, which was saying something indeed, but he couldn't help but notice the sadness in those beautiful eyes and how the corners of that painted mouth turned down. She was quiet all through dinner, wedged between Red and Donna. She only spoke to say thank you when she was offered something and telling Kitty how great everything was. He was sure she was probably feeling lonely, her family broken for a few years now and her friendships thinning. He suspected their separation had added to the loneliness too. And he might have felt a little sorry about that.

After the dishes had been cleared, Fez's dessert plate being forcibly pried from his hands, they settled in the living room for cocktails and presents. Hyde sorta felt like he was watching a movie, not really part of the action, as everyone else opened presents and said their thank you's (that got more and more slurred as the liquor flowed). Finally, all that was left were the presents Eric had sent from Africa. He had a feeling this would be interesting. But it actually turned out not to be that bad. Forman had sent Fez some African chocolate. Hyde teased him to make sure there weren't insects inside, but Fez didn't care and stomped off to eat them in the basement. Jackie got jewelry, a pretty bracelet of pink and black stones. They apparently represented charisma and beauty and Jackie's smile when she read that was the closest thing to her happy Hyde had seen in a while. Donna's present had made her cry, in a good way. It was a statue of a symbol of devotion. He had written a sappy letter to go along with it, Donna excused herself to go home.

But when Kitty handed Hyde his gift from Eric, he was a little confused. It was a long envelope, thin and narrow, with the words "open in private" written on top. Hyde left to go to his room, only one set of mismatched eyes had really noticed.

Once he had shut the door behind him, he sat down and gently opened the envelope. He removed a letter written in Eric's almost-girly handwriting.

Hyde-

I guess I should first send you my congratulations. You, the first married? I'd have never guessed it. Mom's been trying to keep me posted, but I hate not being there. So much seems to be changing, but I hope everything works out for the best. She sent me some photos so I wouldn't get too lonely. One of my favorites is one from the night we were going to that Disco…we were so young then, and we looked ridiculous. Well except for Jackie, she looked gorgeous (don't tell her I said that though, she's still evil). But anyway, when I was trying to get stuff together for everyone for Christmas, you were the hardest. You really don't need much. And it's not like I can contribute to your stash from here. But I thought maybe you could benefit from a reminder of what we all had. The six of us. That way, if by some chance things start to change too quickly, you won't completely forget. I loved this picture, but I think you should have it.

Miss you, man,

Forman

Hyde smiled. He knew the letter was really Eric's way of sticking his nose in Hyde's business all the way from Africa. But he'd called Kitty "Mom," like they were really family, and it was little things like that that he missed most about Forman. He wasn't just like a brother, he went out of his way to make Hyde his brother, whether it was official or not. He sighed and looked in the envelope again, wondering what picture Eric felt was an acceptable gift. He held the photo in his hand. It'd been taken last winter, after they had all chipped in to get Mrs. Forman a new camera for her birthday. They'd all been hanging out in the basement, nothing unusual, and she had come down saying something about getting a picture of her kids all together. And it really was a telling picture.

On the right arm of the couch sat Kelso. His smile a little mischevious, like he was going to burst if he didn't get to shout, "Burn!" soon. And it was easy to see why when looking at Fez, sitting next to him on the couch, a cheesy grin plastered on his face, smudged chocolate surrounding his mouth as he held a half eaten candy bar in each hand. If Hyde remembered correctly Fez had asked Kelso if he had anything on his face before Kitty took the picture. He smiled. Those two acted like they were five sometimes.

Next on the couch sat Donna and Eric. Her head was tilted towards Forman's shoulder, and she was smiling genuinely. Eric had his arm around her shoulder, his other hand intwined with hers, resting on her knee. He was beaming. Those two had been so disgustingly in love sometimes.

And scanning to the left Hyde saw himself. Seated in his chair, sunglasses on, one eyebrow raised and the ends of his lips turned up into a smirk. And lastly, Jackie was on his lap. But that was the part that surprised him. She was smiling, but Jackie-born-to-be-photographed-Burkhardt wasn't smiling at the camera, she was smiling at him, oblivious to picture being taken and everything else around them. Even at that angle, with her hair pulled back in a neat ponytail, he could see the love written all over her face. She was smiling at him like he was her world.

"Damn you, Forman," he thought to himself. He had been doing a pretty good job of pretending he was okay with his new life, that he was okay without Jackie. But deep down he knew it was just pretend. Partly out of pride, not wanting to admit he was wrong, and he was sorry, and partly because Sam didn't deserve to be treated like some thing he could just carelessly return to where he got her. But looking at that picture his chest tightened. He'd give anything to go back to that day, that moment. Not just because he missed Eric and Kelso, though he did more than he ever expected to, but because he had been happy then. Happy with Jackie. And he was pretty sure he wasn't happy now.

Hyde was pulled from his thoughts as there was a soft knock at the door. He called, "Come in," hoping it wasn't Donna coming to talk about how much she missed Eric and hated being alone on Christmas. He was honestly surprised when it was Jackie who peaked her head in.

"Can we talk?" She asked. Her voice was steady, but he recognized the uneasiness in her eyes.

He just shrugged.

She walked in and slowly sat beside him on the bed, "Eric cheap out and not get you anything?" He knew that wasn't what she wanted to talk about, but he let her stall.

"He sent me a nice letter. And this." He handed her the picture.

"I remember that day. Oh, Michael had so just lied to Fez about all that chocolate on his face. Those two are about as mature as five year olds." Hyde snorted his agreement.

"So you wanted to talk?"

"Yeah," she started nervously. "First, I wanted to thank you for my present. You can never have too much ABBA."

Hyde had felt bad about giving her something so impersonal as a record. But she was an ex-girlfriend, he had to be careful."No problem."

"And second, I wanted to give you yours. I wasn't sure you'd like it, so I didn't want to have you open it in front of everyone. But here." She handed him a box, wrapped beautifully. The tag had a little grasshopper on it with a Santa Hat and it read "Hoppy Holidays." He chuckled. She smiled. "I couldn't resist."

Hyde unwrapped it slowly, taking his time perhaps because he felt it might extend the time she'd be with him, sitting on the bed, arms touching. And when he had finally removed all paper and opened the lid he was actually touched. It was a simple name plate for his desk in the back office of the record store. It had Mr. Steven Hyde printed on it in a neat, yet flavorful font, and there were music notes on either side of his name. But it was a gold plate on a cherry wood block and Hyde knew it must have cost her a bit.

"I know you don't really need one of those at the record store, but I thought it might be nice. I want you to know that even though things are over between us, and actually downright awkward, that I'm still so proud of you. You run that store and it's a success, and you love it and you're good at it, and I think that's really great. I really do."

He smiled. It might not appear like much to most people, but to him he knew it was Jackie's love and support in a carefully non-girlfriend-y box. It meant a lot that she was proud of him. I meant a lot that she could still say it. And what he wanted more than anything was to thank her for the gift, and for all the love she'd given him, then and now, with a kiss. But instead he just looked at her, trying to hide the love he still felt,

and said, "Thanks."

She smiled, and then looked away. He suspected there might have been tears forming in her beautiful eyes. "Well I should go, Fez will eat everything in this house if I don't get him home soon." She got up quickly and walked to the door. Without turning around, she surprised him by speaking, "I miss you, Steven. Not just the relationship we had, though I miss those kisses and caresses and I love you's so much I ache. But I miss **_you_**. The way you make me think about things, the way you make me laugh. I'm not sure if your wife would be okay with it, and I'm not sure if we'd even be any good at it, but I'd like to try and be friends. Because I just didn't lose the love of my life, Steven, I lost my best friend, my whole world. And I need some of it back. So if you are willing, or if you even think its possible, just let me know. Cause I honestly have no clue what I'm doing without you."

And she was gone. Out the door silently,up the stairs gracefully, and Hyde was sure in mere seconds he heard the car pull away. He looked again at the picture from Eric, zeroing in on that beautiful profile. He suspected he had a lot of thinking to do. And he predicted, that with the way his thoughts were going, him and Samantha would have a lot more talking than celebrating to do when she got back. And he hoped, truly and sincerely hoped, that soon Jackie would get her world back. And he would get his.


End file.
